I use vintage amps with mine and they sound great to my ears. Adds lots of body. I just love the 'sound' of the old classic amps though so I'm a bit biased. And it also depends if you want an invisible amp or not. One quite big problem with matching vintage amps and the HD700/800 is 'hiss' or 'hums' because of the very high impedance. These two Senns are very sensitive and with elevated treble right at the top - they will let you hear any amp noise. This varies ofcourse,...

Nice! I still love my Grado's and always have some in the stable. Got the SR225e at the moment and I'm as happy with these as I was with the RS1i. (apart from looks obviously) the 'e' series has really refined the sound while still keeping it Grado. The Senn's for classical and Grado for Jazz. Sorted :D

Totally understand. The HD650 and 600 are very similar. I've always found it weird the whole 'veiled' thing. When you listen to both of those headphones they are highly detailed and even a little 'shouty' in the upper mids/treble. Its just they don't have the higher peaks that other hp's have. I think maybe the whole veil thing came about only because the competition at the time was from AKG and Beyer who both favoured a little ultra treble haha. I'd much rather have the...

Absolutely! Also, wanted to add that just like any other headphone sytem matching is imperative. I wouldn't pair the HD800 on a dry SS amp and the same goes for the HD700. I wouldn't pair the HD650 on a warm tube amp if you don't want bloat etc etc. Any complaints regarding the upper treble can only be from bad matching. Many folk didn't give the hd800 a chance when they first came out for the same reasons. And now they are claimed to be the greatest dynamic hp ever.

I'm living with both these hp's at the mo. I use my 650's for my computer time and my 700's for critical/relaxing listening on my main rig. Same amp for both rigs. One thing that strikes me everytime I put the HD700 on is how they are more laid back in the mids and treble. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the 700's are a relaxing listen. They do have peaks and the treble is as extended as any headphone I've used. They're exactly the same as the hd800 in this...

My trusty HD650 are now gathering dust.. Quite a difference in sound sig, so give yourself lots of adjustment time and you will be rewarded. Mostly because of the HD6xx flater response you may think the HD700 are too relaxed in the mids to begin with. But the space, details and imaging are far superior. Also the tonality! Which was a big surprise comparing with the HD650. Vocals/strings etc are less aggressive and smoother. If someone asked me to swap for some HD800...

Totally. Sibelius can very easily be just blocks of melody molded together in the wrong hands. Vanska integrates the whole making the music flow naturally. No little nuance is lost, which in turn makes the music sooo interesting! - no matter how familiar you are with these works, these are very special recordings from a conductor and orchestra at the top of their game.